Raw mini cheesecakes with spiced raspberry & cherry sauce

These mini cheesecakes are delightful! So cute, fun to make, and perfectly delicious. They are raw, vegan, gluten-free, and nut-free. Notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom infuse them with a holiday spirit and they're a great dessert to add to your friendsgiving and thanksgiving spread. The recipe was inspired by Elenore Bendel Zahn of the Earthsprout blog.

Raw Mini Cheesecakes

makes seven minis

Fig Crust:

• scant cup of dried figs
• 1/2 C. pepitas, preferably soaked and dried
• 1/4 C. sunflower seeds, preferably soaked and dried
• 1 Tb. ground flax seed
• pinch good quality salt
• 1-3 ts. water, as needed

Remove the tough stems from the dried figs and give them a rough chop. Place in a food processor and grind into a paste. Add the pepitas, sunflower seeds, flax, and salt and pulse until a dough forms, adding water only as necessary. Place dough between two sheets of parchment paper and roll out in to a square of 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into seven long strips. Roll them up, pressing the ends together to form cylinders. Refrigerate while making the filling and sauce.

Lemon Cardamom filling:

• 2 small ripe bananas
• juice + zest of half a lemon
• 1/8 C. coconut oil, melted
• 1/8 C. coconut butter, softened
• 1 ts. ground cardamom

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until well combined. Put the filling in the freezer to firm up while making the sauce.

Spiced Raspberry & Cherry Sauce :

• 1/8 C. dried tart cherries, soaked in water for 10 minutes 
• 3/4 C. raspberries (thawed if using frozen)
• 3 medjool dates
• juice of 1 orange + 1 Tb zest
• 1/2 ts. ground cinnamon
• pinch nutmeg, freshly grated
• 2 Tb. ground flax
• 2 ts. psyllium husk

 Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until well combined. Let sit for a few minutes to allow the flax and psyllium to thicken the sauce, adding more if it is still too runny.  

Assembly:

Spoon some of the lemon cardamom cream into each of the little cheesecake crusts. Top with a dollop of the raspberry sauce and drizzle a bit on the side. Garnish with more dried cherries and a few goji berries for color. Enjoy!

Goodbye Cele

One of my kitty friends died yesterday. Her name was Cele, and this is what she looked like on her last day of life. The picture is deceptively pretty. You can't tell that one of her eyes was glued shut by this oozy goo, or that she was so weak from not eating that her back legs couldn't pick her up anymore. You can't hear her strange yowls or see the way her head would suddenly droop. In many ways her passing was a relief. I'm adding her to my Dia de los Muertos altar now.

In her younger days Cele was pretty. Little, lithe, and independent. We used to play a game where she would climb a tree, and scurry out to the branch right above wherever I was standing. And she is the mama of Buckley and Graham, the two brother cats that still grace the house where I live.

A friend of mine brought over this sweet lil bouquet with teensy mice in it. Kitty condolences. So nice.

This breakfast parfait to go of almond milk soaked chia + raw cacao mousse (recipe in a preceding post) was about the best thing that happened all day (other than the bouquet). Besides that I got myself in a bit of a gloom. Just off, you know? Uncomfortable in my own skin. It's cold outside and work was slow. I've got a crick in my neck. I feel simultaneously exhausted and lazy, like I'm not doing enough. Not reaching my goals fast enough. The voices in my head say a million mean things: you're weak, you're ugly, unremarkable, alone...all this and more. The best I can do for now is just be present with the gloom. It will pass I'm sure.

Dia de los muertos

For some reason I felt hesitant about putting this post up. I guess because it's not about food or cooking and it seemed a little silly and self centered. I've been questioning my reasons for having this blog...who is it for? What is it's purpose? What makes a post good? Or not so good? What do people like to read best? I'd like to post a lot more often than I do, but seem to get bogged down in deciding what is actually worthy of putting up here.

So I decided today to give myself permission to anything that I want with this blog. It's all about me! Anyone who wants to look on is more than welcome but from now on I am choosing to stop caring so much about what people will think and just write for myself, share whatever I feel like sharing. Make posts that are long, short, boring, fascinating, wordy, wordless, beautiful, ugly... and everything in between. I mean c'mon Julia! It doesn't really matter! Have fun! So here goes...

My Dia de los Muertos altar

They say the veil is thin this time of year, that we can feel with intensity the presence of the other sides and of those who came before us. It is the perfect time to think about death. To embrace it. Not to fear but to love this right of passage that each of us shall take. To honor those we love who have gone from this life.

I have so much fun with costuming that I am inspired to do more! On Halloween weekend I was in an exquisite Dia de los Muertos parade with everyone dressed in their finest calavera face paint and wicked garb. The creativity was inspiring! We danced through the streets of east Austin behind an incredible brass band before ending at Tillery park where there were altars of candles, pictures, pan de muerto, flowers, persimmons, skulls, and lace. I loved embodying the dead through this celebration, interacting with the darkness out in the open with love, colors, happiness, and sadness together.

 

Thank you to all my relations. Thank you for the gifts of life and the transformation of death. Feliz Dia de los Muertos!